Why 'Interstellar' May Have A Bigger Opening Weekend Than 'Gravity'

This weekend is going to be one of the biggest we've seen at the
box office in a while.

Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated "Interstellar" will be
going head-to-head with Disney's next animated movie, "Big Hero
6," and box-office estimates are calling for both to
make over $50 million opening weekend.

How big is that?

There hasn't been a weekend yet this year where two films have
grossed over $50 million in their first weekend. The closest we
came was
back when in June when "22 Jump Street" was released
opposite "How to Train Your Dragon 2."

Analysts appear very uncertain as to how Nolan's latest film will
perform. We've seen tracking range from
$50 million all the way to
$76 million for the weekend.

Fandango reports weekend ticket sales for Nolan's film are
outpacing not only last year's "Gravity" but also Nolan's
"Inception" and "Prometheus." "Gravity" made $55.8 million
opening weekend last year.

According to a Fandango survey of more than 1,000 advance
ticket-buyers for "Interstellar," 78% are Christopher Nolan fans.

In a separate stat given to Business Insider by Fandango, 64% say
Nolan is the main reason people are seeing the film.

Nolan's
fanboys are expected to come out in droves for
"Interstellar."Frazer Harrison/Getty
Images

That could be troublesome if Nolan fanboys are coming out early
to see the film. However, since 2010's "Inception" and "The Dark
Knight" trilogy, the director has built up a respectable
reputation that may transcend diehard Nolan fanboys to appeal to
a larger general audience. A big factor with "Interstellar" will
be to see how it holds after early showings into the weekend.

Another big test for the film will be how it holds up against
less
than stellar reviews overall. Some of the film's "too big"
concepts could drive audiences away. Word of mouth could swing
people one way or another as the weekend progresses.

And then there's Disney's "Big Hero 6."

It's been a while since audiences have had a big family film to
head out and see, and while the film's reviews aren't perfect,
kids are going to definitely want to head out to see the Mouse
House's cuddly-looking white robot, Baymax.
Unlike "Interstellar," "Big Hero 6" also has the addition of
3D ticket sales on its side and families heading out to see the
film together.

In short, it's going to be a very close and exciting
weekend at the box office.